... while robert was feeding the cats i made a bit of a wander through norma's greenery ... fresh tomatoes, something i miss much ...
... a tiny little plant, as usual i've no idea its name ...
... norma's yard is a very, very happy place ...
... i drove up to bangor to spend the day with three of the tracy gang ... we took a hike down to the park by the school ... tom fit himself to a tree ...
... dan, on the other hand, found a tree upon which to teach his brother how to "run up the trunk" ... we all did this when were were kids, and i can remember how we'd all heard of "a kid on the other side of town" who could "run up the trunk higher than he could touch" ... we tried, which meant that most of the time we went home with sore noggins and bruises on our butts ...
... megan packed up a perfect picnic lunch ... all the food groups, each bag neatly labeled as to the intended consumer ... i watched from a distance as she prepared the setting, noticing how careful she was to make sure the blanket was perfectly squared ... such effort and concentration in a simple thing like a picnic, this, i believe, says good things of megan ...
... dan is daringly contortionistic on the monkey bars ...
... while there was a certain element of bravado and showmanship to his aerial antics, i believe this is the moment where begins a process that can eventually cumulate with a russian judge grudgingly raising the "10" card ...
... sister and brother, being entertained ...
... megan offered up to me a tiny birthday bouquet ...
... dan, strutting a stage that belongs to him ...
... butterflies and milkweed, she's equally fascinated ...
... here, i think, megan was advising her younger brother about some important reality of the upcoming school year ...
... "tom" and "ponder" ... synonyms ...
... emily, observing ...
... sisters ...
... megan and i made yarn dolls, like they did in the olden days ... she then taught her sister the skill ...
... little walker, growing up so very fast ...
... interested in everything ...
... after supper, em and chad and the kids offered up a birthday cake and a most wonderful present ... i was caught by surprise, which, i'm sure, was their plan ... it was a perfect moment, even if chad couldn't manage to keep the candles lit ... megan whispered to me, "make a wish, but don't tell anyone" ... how so very strangely wonderful, in that moment i could think of nothing to wish for ...
... adrien and liz, my brother and sister, family and friends, even, it seems, new family ... i mean, it almost seems silly that i would get a wish, doesn't it ...